Diary 2-Fighting Stance-Yané's Diary
by princess-sari1
Summary: The second in the Diary of a Handmaiden series. This reveals the thoughts of Yané while she was left on Naboo with Saché during TPM.
1. Entry 1

Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by George Lucas and Lucasfilm, Ltd. No money is being made off this story.  
(Note: the numbers inserted throughout the text are not typos. The numbers are leftovers from the excellent encryption program on the datapad containing Yané's diary.)  
  
*****  
Valorum has assured Padmé that he is sending two Jedi to help us get rid of the Trade Federation. Well, he didn't put123541 it that way, of course. But I'm not a politician or a diplomat and I hate the Trade Federation, so that's how I'm goi1138ng to say it. I just hope the Jedi are as good as Valorum seems to think. I'm pretty excited. I mean, I've never actually met a Jedi before and I wonder wha132348713t they'll be like. I can't wait to see their lightsabers, *if* we even get the chance. Padmé is hoping the situation can be re12323487862123695842265855solved without fighting.   
  
Personally, although I can't admit this to anyone but my diary, I think a fight would be nice for a change. If anybody reads that, they'll probably have a fit. We Naboo are known for our peacefulness. But what's th122563325855e point of all the training we had on how to fight if we never use it? What is the point of having elite bodyguards disguised as simple handmaidens if you never use them?   
  
It's a good thing I'm good at encr22664588yption, otherwise I'd always be afraid someone would find and read this and have me up for treason or sedition or something.   
***** 


	2. Entry 2

*****   
1235715546123137654312327432Well, I haven't had any time to myself for days, what with the Trade Federation blockade and the expected arrival of the Jedi, but now Padmé, Sabé, Rabé, and Eirtaé have left. Saché and I are4567321323alone in our quarters, with battle-droids guarding our doors and the sound of blaster-fire floating in through the windows rather than the normal sounds of bird-song and laughing voices.   
  
I know that what is happening is very serious, but I am also very excited. When I was told I had been chos56456753en to be a handmaiden for the Queen, I was so sure it would be exciting. Instead, it's been one formal dinner after another, and a347741324567lot of waiting and standing around and being silent and quiet and not *doing* anything.   
  
I'm sick of it. I want some action. Which is why I wish Padmé would have taken all of us along. But, no, of co137486765423123urse I'd be left behind with Saché. Don't get me wrong––I like Saché, but she isn't very much fun. I get the feeling she sees this as being just plain terrible, and not exciting *at all.*   
  
She keeps telling me, "Yané, it is very important that we uphold the Queen's honor. The people will look to us as her23787423123789611384532137only representatives while she's gone. We must show them that they can still put their trust in her to save Naboo."   
  
What a bore! The best thing for us to do would be to fight! We have blasters and I'm sure we could fight o5464ur way out of the Palace and find a Resistance cell and start fighting the Trade Federation *now.* That way whe142765245n Padmé returns, their will already be a plan in place and her supporters will already be organized.   
  
Of course, I have said none of this to Saché. If there's one thing I've le2387512312345683arned in the last months of service to the Queen, it's how to keep my mouth shut. That has never been one of my strong points, but necessity is the m3254356other of invention. Does that expression make sense here? Oh, well, 123476you know what I mean.   
  
Saché is calling me––*again*...   
  
***** 


	3. Entry 3

*****   
For once, Saché and I agree236598981796563244 about something. Gov. Bibble sent a message to Padmé's ship today, telling her that our people are dying and she ""must contact us."" If it hadn't been for the months of training I've had recently, I think I would have decked him. What a stupid thing to do! Saché feels the same way. We are both wo 2357486986543 rried that Padmé will listen to Bibble and either respond or come back.   
  
Argh! It just makes me so mad! The whole reason she left in the first place was bec235667ause our people are dying. She didn't need Bibble to tell her that. Honestly, I know Padmé respects Bibble and takes his adv32456753ice sometimes, but I think he can be pretty foolish, to put it politely. She's usually ten steps ahead of him anyway, and I don't know why she listens to him at all.   
  
Well, anyone reading this would think I was pretty mean-spirited. I can't help it, though. I mean, I *like* Bibble. 811235748642132And Saché, Eirtaé, Rabé, and Sabé, not to mention Padmé, have become like sisters to me. But sometimes all the propriety of being a handmaiden gets to be too much and I have to have a way to let it all out. Exercise helps (there's nothing like sinking your fist into a punching bag while imagining it's the face of whoever is getting on your nerves at the moment to make you feel better) but somet2651367565992135786imes I really need to talk it out. And since I can't do that, I use this trusty datapad instead. So, just for posterity, in case anyone ever reads this, you are seeing me at my worst! I am not generally this type of horrible person!   
  
Okay, I feel better now, h23820021453aving explained all that.   
  
***** 


	4. Entry 4

*****   
I really think I am going to go mad!!!!!   
Today we actually stood by and watched as a group of rebels were murdered in front of us.   
I couldn't believe it when Saché j3287964536ust stood there and did nothing. I finally took a step forward, but before I could actually say anything, one of the battle-droids alongside me hit me in the head with the butt of his blaster so hard I saw stars. I only just barely made it back to our room in the Palace, 357481981974523and I don't think Saché ever even noticed what had happened!!!   
  
The more time I spend around her just the two of us, the stranger I think she is.   
  
And I am so angry when I think of how nobody132135746did anything to stop that execution!! Once the droid hit me, I was so dizzy I could barely speak. And Hela Brandes whispered in my ear not to try anything else, because they would just kill me, too. The only rea43135789362son I listened to her was because I was half-unconscious anyway!! Argh!!!!!   
  
Every time I bring up fighting to Saché, she says it isn't the right time yet and we should give Padmé a chance to work things out in the Senate. Well, what if she never makes it there? There is that chance. Saché just says that we should wait and see what happens, but I say that with every passing day, the TF gets a firmer grip on our planet and the time to act is *now.*23365989786453268786513254   
  
Of course, she doesn't listen to me. Literally, I mean. I told her today that I thought we had waited long enough, that we really need to fight, and she looked at me as if she hadn't heard me and disappeared from the room.   
  
So, I guess I'm alone in my desire to fight. And I've b456321569876een trained well enough to know I don't really have much chance on my own.   
  
And I *do* have faith in Padmé. If she can't get something done in the Senate soon, I'm sure she will come back357853213 and find another way––even if it means war.   
***** 


	5. Entry 5

*****   
Things just keep going from bad to worse. The TF has now begun going after the Gungans in their underwater cities and from what little we53313873123816543've been able to pick up, the Gungans are being badly routed. Of course, as Saché pointed out, that could be just propaganda, but still...it doesn't so3784536573236und too good. Wait, that would mean it's working. On second thought, I bet the Gungans are escaping and the Neimodians a59771235re spreading lies!!!   
  
Saché has been very quiet––even more so than usual. All she does is write in that silly flimsyplast diary of hers (Hello! Anybody could just pick it up and read it––she should write on an encrypted datapad, it's much more secure.) She spent two h237856312783247564ours today reorganizing Padmé's wardrobe, even though it didn't need it. Course, I ended up helping her, since there really is nothing else to do.   
  
While she was polishing Padmé's jewels, though, I snuck into the secret cache of weapons behind a giant portrait in the living area and checked on the blasters hidden there. I made sure they were all fully charged and ready 987323327575313for when we need them. They took our own weapons that first day of the invasion. They found the blaster Saché always used to carry hidden under her robes, and the vibroblades I kept hidden up my sleeves, and Rabé's vibroshiv, and the blasters Eirtaé and Padmé were3245132578435carrying, also. Sabé, dressed as the Queen, was unarmed at the time.   
  
I feel naked without my blades, and unfortunately, I don't have anymore of them hidden anywhere. I'm pretty good with a blaster, though––good enough to know what to do with it when the time36575312374 comes.   
  
Saché is calling me, yet again. Maybe th8765329813278943ere's another group of prisoners going through the courtyard––that's the only way we have of getting information anymore...   
  
***** 


	6. Entry 6

*****   
Well, I was right, she was calling me to watch yet another band of rebels be escorted through the palace gardens below us. They wore clothes of fiery red and ebony black with touches of white or green or blue or gold.   
  
Our people are not giving in.   
  
We will fight––that is what their clothes say. We grieve for our fallen friends and for our planet, but we will not give in.   
  
Watching them walk meekly in the midst of those wretched battle-droids was terrible but also ironic. If only the Neimodians (I won't condescend to learn their slimy names) knew what we are ""saying"" behind their backs. It's so funny, even while it's tragic.   
  
Saché has disappeared into Padmé's wardrobe, of all places. Why she wants to go in there to write is absolutely beyond me. I'd ask, but every time I try to say something to her, she gets this tight look on her face and either doesn't answer, or gives me the briefest answer possible.   
  
Maybe she's as tired of being stuck in these rooms as I am, but just doesn't want to admit it.   
  
Or maybe she's just strange.   
  
It's funny, because while we've been serving Padmé for awhile now, and we've gotten to know one another quite well, I've suddenly realized that I don't *really* know Saché as well as I would have thought. I mean, I know quite a bit about Rabé and Sabé and Eirtaé, but Saché has always been quiet. Totally my opposite. Which is probably why of all my fellow handmaidens, I know her the least well.   
  
There is bond between all of us though––Sabé, Rabé, Eirtaé, Saché, and I––that transcends what we actually know about each other. We all have the same goal and mission––to serve Naboo, to serve the Queen, and to keep them both safe. We may have different ways of going about things, but we are meant to work together and complement each other and I think we do.   
  
For example, I would have fought right from the start if I had my choice, but Saché kept me from acting rashly. And I can admit now that I probably would have ended up in one of the camps, or executed or something, and not much use to anyone.   
  
On the other hand, if fighting does start, I'll be able (I hope) to motivate Saché to fight, even though her instinct may be to wait until we get some actual direction from Padmé.   
  
I guess this has been a real learning experience for me.   
  
Now if I could just get Saché out of the wardrobe...   
***** 


	7. Entry 7, Part 1

*****   
Well, I know I've been saying all along how much I want to fight, but today I feel about ready to jump out of my skin. There is an air of expectancy today that is almost tangible. Even Saché commented on it. I feel like...like something is going to happen. I can barely make myself sit down even to make this entry. It takes all my will power not to get the blasters from their hiding-place. I practically ache for the feeling of one in my hand again.   
  
I just wish I knew if this feeling is just that––a feeling. Or if something is actually going to happen...   
*****   
Something did happen!  
  
A big something!  
  
I'll go back to where I left off in my last entry and try to fill you in. (Without so many exclamation points.) So here goes:  
  
I put my datapad down and resumed pacing the room. When I got tired of pacing the main living area, I went into the room Saché and I share and began pacing in there. Saché was in the wardrobe again. (I was really starting to worry about her, though I wouldn't offend her by asking what was wrong.)   
  
She finally emerged and we talked a little about how nervous we were feeling.  
  
And then we heard a clattering sound from the hallway. It took just a few seconds before that sound registered in my mind. The battle-droids guarding our doors. They must have left for some reason. I ran to the door and it opened (Yes, those ridiculous battle-droids they had guarding us actually left us in an unlocked room. I guess the stupidity that exemplifies is the reason a bunch of pacifist civilians managed to wrest their planet back from the battle-hardened droid armies of the TF! Oops–an exclamation point–sorry.) just in time for me to see the droids skirting the corner at the far end of the hall, heading vaguely in the direction of the Throne Room.   
  
And somehow instinct took over. I wasn't even thinking as I ran to the portrait of Queen Nassu, and pressed the corner of the frame which causes it to swing out. Then, I keyed the code into the keypad behind it to open the hiding place and dug out two blasters. I tossed one to Saché, who looked at it like she'd never seen a blaster before (I still think that was odd, but who knows what she was thinking?–Definitely not me–I *always* know what to do with a blaster!)  
  
I shouted to Saché to follow me and fortunately she did. I chased after the droids with her at my heels. When I reached the corner, I stopped and looked around it carefully. The hallway was empty, the droids out of sight, so I took off down it at a run and continued on the path I figured they would have been following if they were indeed going to the Throne Room.   
  
After two more turns, we finally hit a pocket of battle-droids having it out with a group of security guards. I was shocked even to see any security guards left in the palace, but I didn't have time to analyze things. Saché and I had come in behind the droids, which meant that we were able to take four of them out before they realized we were there, and between us, the guards and the two of us were able to take out the remaining droids.   
  
We joined forces with the guards who explained that Panaka had returned with Padmé (Yay!) and that the battle for Naboo was on.  
  
I can't even describe how it felt. It was like waking up after a long sleep. Every part of me felt absolutely, totally alive. It was exhilarating and intoxicating all at once. Finally, *finally* we were using all those skills we'd learned.  
  
Finally, we were fighting back.   
*****  
TBC...  



	8. Entry 7, Part 2

*****  
We didn't bother introducing ourselves at the time, but I later learned the names of the guards we joined up with, so I might as well include that now. The one in charge was a Lt. Raden Praré, who is nineteen. He was leading a small group of young people who weren't even old enough to actually be guards, but had joined since the battle began–Lissé Talen (she's 13, like me and Saché), Delranek Kobé (he's 14, like Rabé) and Chak Carré (he's also 14). As the resistance both grew, with more and more people joining with every passing hour, and shrunk, with more and more "rebels" being found out and captured constantly, the remaining trained guards began splitting up, each of them taking a few untrained volunteers with them. Which is how Raden, Lissé, Del and Chak came to be together and how we came to meet them. They had been ordered to try to get into the Palace and do whatever they could and had somehow managed to make their way all the way up to the level of the Queen's apartments.  
  
Like I said, all this we learned later. At the time, we only stopped long enough to exchange names. Raden explained that they had been instructed to try to clear the way to the Throne Room as much as possible, and since Saché and I were also heading that way it made sense to join up.   
  
We made it almost to the lift which we always take from our rooms to the Throne Room in the morning when Padmé is going to have her audience with the Council when we encountered our first droidekas. There were two of them, along with six battle-droids. I had never fought a droideka before, even in sim, and I still can't believe how difficult it was. We had to take out the battle-droids first, then concentrate our firepower on the droidekas, three of us on each. By the time they finally exploded, all of our power cells were pretty much drained, and we had to take the blasters from the downed battle-droids.   
  
Then we had to figure out how to get up to the Throne Room level. Raden produced a cable-gun from his belt and he and Saché began to discuss using it to go up the outside of the Palace. I was glad to see Saché finally seemed to be back to normal, but I thought they were wasting their time. I tapped my foot against the polished floor impatiently. The cable-gun wasn't much use to us, because there was one gun and six people. Even if we went up one at a time, that would take forever. There has to be another way, I thought.   
  
And then I had it.   
  
"Um, guys," I said. They ignored me, so I cleared my throat and said, "Guys!" in a louder voice.   
  
Everybody looked at me. I pointed a finger down the hall where we had been headed.  
  
"The lift?" I said. I saw recognition dawning in their eyes and remembered something Panaka told us when we were doing our initial training. He said that often in the heat of battle, the most obvious things become obscured and that many times the most obvious things are also the most effective. At the time I didn't get it, but standing there by the lift, it finally made sense.  
  
"It'll be deactivated," Raden said as if that should be obvious–which it was.  
  
"But we can still use it," I answered. "There's usually a maintenance ladder or something in lift shafts, isn't there?"  
  
"It's worth a try," Raden said, motioning the others down the hall to the alcove in front of the lift.  
  
Saché got herself set up on one side of the hall to watch our backs, with Del and Chak on the other.  
  
Raden, Lissé and I went over to the lift and I keyed the code to override its programming and send it to us immediately, but it was, unsurprisingly, completely deactivated. Well, we had figured it would be, so that was no surprise. But I hadn't counted on the doors being locked shut.  
  
I turned and picked up a section of battle-droid that lay nearby.   
  
"That looks about right," I said and Raden nodded, understanding what I had in mind.  
  
Saché turned back over her shoulder and said, "Hurry up you guys, I've got a feeling we're going to have company real soon," and I was glad to see her getting into the fight.   
  
We didn't bother answering her, though, because we had the rod lodged in the almost hairline crack between the decorative doors, and were starting to try to prize them apart. The lift might not be working, but the shaft was the still shortest way to get up to the level we needed.   
  
We forced the doors open just far enough to be able to squeeze through, which I immediately did. It was dimly lit, but before I could even say anything, I felt Raden press a glowrod into my hand and I activated it. With the light it shed, I could see the lift far below me, and I satisfied myself that if we kept to the sides of the shaft, we'd be safe even if it moved. Of course, none of this would have worked had there not been something to climb, but I was relieved to see a maintenance ladder was indeed running up one of the walls.  
  
I ducked back out and called Saché and the others over.   
  
"There's a ladder to the right of the doors that should take us up to the level we want," I said.  
  
"They'll be watching the lifts, even if they are deactivated," Raden said. "The shaft may even be booby-trapped."  
  
"I doubt it," I answered. "The scum have been using the lifts while they were here, so they wouldn't booby-trap them. And with all the confusion, they won't be very organized in defending the Palace. After all, our guards just ran off without even seeing that our door was properly locked."  
  
Raden nodded. "Alright then, you five go up the lift shaft. I'm going to cable up outside that window--" he pointed to the nearest one, "and I'll be waiting for you when you get to the top."  
  
I nodded and began swing myself into the shaft again when Raden pulled me back.  
  
"You'll have to wait for me to get the doors open. I'll take out whatever droids are there, and open the doors for you. Got it?" He directed the words at me, and I figured he'd already picked up on the fact that I probably would have tried to do it all myself–climb the shaft, pry the doors open, shoot the droids, save the Queen, liberate the planet... I grinned at him.  
  
"Got it."  
  
He nodded and then tucked the metal rod we'd used to open the lift doors into his belt, headed for one of the hall alcoves and blasted the window. As he disappeared onto the ledge outside, I finally swung into the shaft. I reached over and grabbed hold of the metal rungs and began to climb, going up far enough to give the others room to come in after me. Once everybody was in the shaft, I started climbing in earnest. It took a lot longer than I would have guesses, and was a lot harder, too. I had thought I was very fit, but after that climb, I'm going to add some more exercises to my workout. At the same time I was trying to keep my arms and legs moving as fast as possible, I also had to count floors as I climbed and guess at the right one. I suddenly wondered what would happen if Raden and I chose different floors and hoped that wouldn't happen.   
  
*****  
TBC...  



	9. Entry 7, Part 3

*****  
Fortunately, as I came up on the doors I thought were right, I saw a slender beam of light separate them, slowly growing wider. When they finally parted enough for Raden to poke his head through, I noted that his dark hair was sticking to his forehead from exertion and he looked worried. Well, I probably didn't look too different.  
  
His eyes met mine and the relief in them was obvious. He offered me a hand and helped me out. The floor was littered with the parts of five battle-droids, and I said, "You took all these out yourself?"  
  
He looked a little sick, and said, "At least there weren't any droidekas this time."  
  
And then I looked down and saw the scorch-mark on his shoulder.   
  
"You're injured!" I exclaimed.  
  
"It's not bad, really." He managed a half-wince, half-smile at me and I nodded. If he felt he could keep going, then I wouldn't argue.  
  
He covered the hall while I helped the others out.   
  
We rested a moment before we moved forward again. If I thought I was winded after the climb, I underestimated the benefits of the training and maintenance program Saché and I (and Eirtaé, Rabé and Sabé) are on. Del, Lissé, and Chak looked done-in. Not to mention Raden, with a hole in his shoulder.   
  
Raden removed his vest and then folded it and pressed it to the wound with a hiss of pain. I helped him secure it there with a strip he had already torn off.   
  
"We'll have to find you a medpac soon," I commented, and was pleased when he shrugged me off.  
  
"I'll be fine," he insisted, impressing me yet again with his strength.  
  
Once we had all recovered enough to go on, we headed toward the Throne Room again.  
  
We hit three more pockets of droids and droidekas before we finally came up on the long hallway that ends in front of the huge doors leading into it. The thing that really surprised me was how well we all worked together as a team. Especially Saché and I. We got to put a lot of the moves Panaka has been teaching us to good use. And it was *fun*–at least for me. I've always enjoyed battle–with blasters, with vibro-blades, hand-to-hand, you name it–and this time there was the added thrill of knowing that my actions, our actions, could determine the fate of our planet.  
  
I really think it was the best day of my life.  
  
*****  
TBC...  



	10. Entry 7, Part 4

*****  
Anyway, I flattened myself against the wall and peeked around it slowly. I should be able to see all the way down that endless hall to the Throne Room doors from here.   
  
Instead, I saw Padmé coming toward me at a flat-out run with some security officers with her. And six battle-droids behind her. I couldn't figure out why she was running rather than fighting, but I was already moving just the same. Raden had peeked out over my shoulder and now he shouted at the others to get ready to fire, and Padmé's group caught up to us. I reached my left hand out to Padmé, and she grabbed it, using it to swing herself around the corner and behind me. She was already raising her blaster, and I was already firing away with the blaster I held in my right hand. The officers with her split up, two of them ducking in behind her, the others taking refuge behind a pillar across the hall.   
  
With the number of blasters trained on them, it's no surprise the droids didn't last very long.  
  
It wasn't until the last one fell to the marble floor and I turned to welcome my Queen home that I realized that it was Sabé, and not Padmé, kneeling beside me.  
  
"Sabé!" I said intelligently.  
  
"Thanks for the help, Yané." She was breathing hard, but she managed to spit out the story. Padmé needed her to act as a decoy to lure some of the droids away from the Throne Room so she could capture the slime Viceroy.  
  
"Now I just hope it worked," she said, casting a glance back down the hall.  
  
"There's only one way to find out," I said."Come on!"  
  
Well, they don't call me the reckless one for nothing.   
  
I took off down the hall, with the others just a step behind me and we made it halfway to the Throne Room when a group of battle-droids emerged from a hallway behind us. We engaged them and were making headway when I heard more droids coming up the hall behind us, and also from the end of the hall opposite the Throne Room doors. Within seconds we were surrounded.  
  
There is a huge difference between being the ambusher, as we had been during most of the battle, and being the ambushed. And the difference is that the ambusher usually wins, and the ambusher usually loses, as I thought we had at that point. Not that I was ready to give in, of course.  
  
My eyes met Saché's and then Sabé's and I gave the tiny hand-signal Panaka had taught us to use. Saché gave me the tiniest of nods, and I knew that she was with me, and that we would once again work together and do the best we could. Sabé looked straight back at me, looking so much like Padmé that I almost did another double-take. I felt a flood of confidence wash through me–not confidence that we could win, but confidence that this was *right* somehow. That Saché and Sabé and I were finally doing what we had been trained to do and that we were using that training in the best way possible.   
  
Of course, it's really doubtful if my idea would have worked–even with the three of us rushing the droids in hand-to-hand-style combat, and even if the others had caught on and helped us, we were sadly outnumbered. The droids had materialized so suddenly, as if coming out of the walls, that we had almost no chance of succeeding. But still, I tensed my muscles in preparation for a leap backwards and a swipe at the blaster arm of the nearest droid when a miracle occurred. Or at least it seemed like a miracle at the time. The droids slumped over, fell clattering to the floor, and just lay there.   
  
It was like they had all suddenly died. Of course they couldn't really die, since they're droids, but you know what I mean--that's what it looked like.   
  
And the point is, that was the moment that the battle was won––and by a ten-year-old boy from Tatooine who had never flown an actual fighter in his life before that day. Of course, at the time I didn't know that, so I pretty much thought the sudden deactivation of the droids was a miracle, albeit one that stole my fun. And, of course, probably saved my life, which is why I shouldn't complain like that.  
  
"It worked," Sabé breathed. "They got the control ship down. We've won." She sounded incredulous and I couldn't blame her. Especially because at the time I had no real idea what she was talking about.   
  
But my blood was still rushing, and we still didn't know what was happening in the Throne Room.   
*****  
TBC... 


	11. Entry 7, Part 5

*****  
I went up to the doors and keyed the control panel, which didn't work, of course.  
  
I'm not sure what I would have done–blasted the doors down by hand using every single blaster I could get my hands on. Or pounded on them with my fists and shouted my head off until I drove someone crazy enough to open them.  
  
Fortunately, we'll never know, because the doors opened anyway. And the sight before my eyes was perhaps the sweetest ever.  
  
Padmé standing before her throne, a blaster leveled at the scum viceroy's head. She ran over to us, and managed to hug each of us in turn without lowering her blaster from the Neimoidian's head. I think personally that she was fighting the temptation to pull the trigger. I couldn't blame her.  
  
She gave us the most beautiful smile I have ever seen and I knew then that Naboo was ours once again.   
  
I turned to where Raden was, standing behind me and looking at Padmé with a starstruck look on his face (Well, she *is* the Queen and very beautiful, although when you see her everyday and help her dress and cover herself in makeup and stuff, I guess sometimes you actually tend to forget that.) and I realized that he really didn't look too good.   
  
I was about to say something when his eyes glazed over–with something other than starstruck adoration for his lovely sovereign–and he slowly started to slide toward the floor. I darted toward him and managed to help Chak and Del catch him–sort of. He's a good bit taller and bigger than I am, and somehow most of his weight seemed to come down on me, so it was all I could do to just let him down slowly. But between us, we managed to ease him onto the floor. Panaka reached us then and opened his vest, removing the "bandage" he had improvised. From the look on his face, he wasn't too happy with what he saw.  
  
"When did this happen?"  
  
"Fifteen minutes ago," I guessed.  
  
"It's a wonder he kept moving as long as he did."  
  
"It's bad, then?"  
  
"Of course it's bad! Look at it!"  
  
I did and then wished I hadn't.  
  
My heart twisted. I had taken his word for it that he could keep going. We've all been given some basic medical training, and when I looked at it now I could tell it was bad. But I had been so impressed at the way he had been willing to keep going without any complaints that I hadn't really taken his injury all that seriously. Too caught up in the battle, I guess. Saché had knelt down by his other side, and our eyes met. I could tell she felt as bad as I did. And there was something else in her eyes that was almost too painful to look at...(Hm, I guess there's more to writing down your thoughts than I thought. I had forgotten that look in her eyes until just now. I wonder what that was all about...) Back to the story though.   
  
To make a long story short, we managed to get some temporary bacta patches on his wound and Panaka gave him a shot of pain-killer. I ended up going along with Raden and his friends to the field hospital that had been erected in the main Plaza and stuck with them while he was treated. Nothing like the word of a Queen's Handmaiden to get a guy the best treatment!  
  
I ended up making some good friends, too. Lissé, Del, and Chak told me how they had each come to be involved in the resistance and they told me a bit about Raden's history, too–what they knew of it, anyway, since they hadn't known each other for very long.  
  
Eventually, the medic let us in to see Raden, who was still unconscious, but finally starting to turn a normal color again. Then, they shooed the others out. They tried to shoo me, too, but I refused to be shooed and they finally gave up. I guess being a Handmaiden really does have its perks.   
  
Of course, I could only stay until a message came that I was needed in the Queen's chambers, and since he still hadn't woken up, I'm not sure what good staying there really did. Especially when I could have been helping to hunt out the remaining TF presence in the City–mostly collapsed droids.   
  
But oh, well. I guess I've got a little bit of a sentimental side after all. I felt pretty bad about not having realized how badly hurt Raden really was. And I will still have to find time to apologize to him for that.  
  
But it will have to wait until after the celebration–which will be starting very soon. I'm actually looking forward to it. Not least of all because there will be several Jedi there–Jedi Masters from the Jedi Council, no less, and I still want a look at those lightsabers.  
  
Rabé has already told me all about seeing the Jedi fight throughout their journey and I am *so* jealous. All I'm asking for is one little demonstration–is that too much to ask for? Probably.  
  
Well, Eirtaé is calling me–we're about to leave. I'm excited about the celebration, but I know it won't compare to the excitement of the battle. For me, there's nothing like the feel of a blaster (or better yet, my blades which are once again in their proper place up my sleeves) in my hands and the challenge of a good fight.  
  
But I guess peace is good, too.   
  
At least for awhile.  
*****  
  



End file.
